The National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) is assisting a Southeast Asian country with developing space technology and looking forward to a deal to help it develop a remote sensing satellite and testing facilities, NARL International Affairs Office director Franz Cheng said on Wednesday last week, while keeping the country’s name a secret for political reasons.

Previously an engineer at NARL’s National Space Organization, Cheng said that he was among the first engineers to receive hands-on training in the US in the early years of space technology development in Taiwan.

In 2010, NARL joined Sentinel Asia, a Japan-led global cooperation platform for improving disaster monitoring and alerts through information and communications technology (ICT), allowing it to reach out to regional developers, Cheng said.

Among more than 20 nations with agencies working on satellite imagery, only eight — Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates — share their image data, he said.

Chinese agencies choose not to share their satellite resources, despite their advanced technology, he added.

While helping the Southeast Asian country develop its space technology, NARL has put it in touch with a local company that is helping it construct an antenna at its space research center, he said, adding that Taiwan’s name is inscribed on the antenna.

Collaboration with the country, which has been going on for nearly six years, started after an exchange through Sentinel Asia, he said.

Taiwan, for example, shared imagery gathered by Formosat-2, its first remote sensing satellite, launched in 2004, which was greatly appreciated by Japan, he said.

NARL members mainly advise the unnamed country on ground station design, specifications and operations, but a much-anticipated deal would allow them to assist the country in constructing satellite integration and testing facilities, Cheng said.

The unnamed country is also thinking about developing a remote sensing satellite, he added.

If secured, the deal would open up a bigger market for Taiwan’s aerospace firms, thanks to their experience and expertise with satellite manufacturing and ICT, he said.

NARL and the unnamed country are not publicizing their ties, as China might seek to block further collaboration, he said, adding that the sensitivity of space technology and the competitiveness of the industry have limited Taiwan’s opportunities to collaborate with other Asian nations through official channels.

Taiwan should make bolder attempts to explore potential applications, just as Singapore has visualized new business models and Luxembourg proposed mining rare metals in space, Cheng said.

The commercialization of space technologies has soared in many countries, thanks to the decline of so-called “disruptive development” in the industry, he said.

Cheng said that he has a positive outlook about the trend, as the more open the industry becomes, the more people would benefit.